The FCC has issued a Public Notice that (1) extends the deadline for filing nominations for the 4th Chairman’s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility (Chairman’s AAA) from March 5, 2015, until March 20, 2015, and (2) encourages parties making nominations to submit additional information, including references to consumer reviews or products and services and links to videos on a website that demonstrate their innovations. Those who have already submitted a nomination are invited to resubmit their nomination to include this additional information.
The Chairman’s AAA recognizes new products, services, technologies or practices designed to advance accessibility to communications or video programming for people with disabilities. Innovations are eligible for submission if they were first made available to the public between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. Winners will be recognized at a ceremony in June 2015. The place and time for the ceremony will be announced at a later time.
Nominations for the Chairman’s AAA are accepted in the following eight categories:
- CAPTCHA Alternatives
- Internet of Things
- Wearable Devices
- Real-Time Text
- Teleconferencing
- Video Description
- Augmented Reality
- Miscellaneous
For more information about the categories and criteria for nominations, and how to submit nominations, please review the following Public Notice: http://www.fcc.gov/document/advancement-accessibility-awards-nominations
For questions or inquiries about the Chairman’s AAA ceremony, please contact Jamal Mazrui, Deputy Director, Accessibility and Innovation Initiative, (202) 418-0069 or Jamal.Mazrui@fcc.gov, or Kelly Jones, (202) 418-7078, Kelly.Jones@fcc.gov, or call the ASL Consumer Support Line, at (844) 432-2275 via videophone. Inquiries may also be sent to ChairmansAAA@fcc.gov.